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It can happen to anyone...but don't we all feel a little cheated when we lose someone with such promise?

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"A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson

MY BIG CONCERNS ABOUT AMERICA:

Internally- We spend too much time assuring our rights without learning the responsibilities that should accompany them.Externally - No matter how much we claim to take the higher moral ground, we have neither respected nor attempted to understand other cultures.

I'm absolutely heartbroken tonight. I'm a Brewers fan, but I can appreciate talent from any team. And I've been watching Oscar Taveras for three years. A few years ago, I signed up on MLB.tv for the first time, and I signed up on Milb.com the year before last, in large part, to watch Taveras play.

I bought this Bowman Chrome prospect auto the day after the product hit eBay. It was $100 well spent, I thought. I still thought that this afternoon, too.

This guy was about as close to a sure thing as I've seen since Mike Trout. He didn't have Trout's speed, but he could hit like nobody's business.

Just two weeks ago, he was hitting a pinch hit, game-tying home run in game 2 of the NLCS.

Lots of people have said that Taveras was the next Albert Pujols. While much of the time, comparisons made to a young player coming up are unfair because of the incredible pressure that they come with, this is one time where the expectations were not unfair. Taveras had incredible bat speed, and a great eye. He did not set the world on fire in his brief stay in the Majors: .239 AVG, 3 HR, 22 RBI in 234 at bats. But Taveras was coming. The Cardinals were so sure of it that they traded away Allen Craig, a career .306 hitter, so right field would be open for Taveras in 2015.

Not even a month ago, I was joking with some fellow posters on a Brewers forum I frequent that Taveras was going to kill us for the next 15 years. Nobody took me to task for saying it, because they knew what I knew. It was never a matter of "if" with Oscar. It was a matter of "when". That classic swing, tailor made to send baseballs into the seats, was beautiful. Below is the video of his first Major League hit, a home run. Go to 1:04 in this video, and watch his swing in slow motion.

I've talked to some Cardinal fans tonight. They are numb. They were making plans for next season, and the talk revolved around Taveras. He was going to start. He was the next great one, playing for a franchise that has had more than their share of great ones. Now he is gone.

It doesn't matter if you are a fan of the Cardinals or not, or even if you are a fan of today's game. We all can appreciate the impact of this loss. This was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. He had worked so hard to get where he was, and tragically, he will never have that chance now. Taveras and his girlfriend both died in the car crash, and we are left to wonder what could have been.

My heart goes out to Oscar's family and friends, and Cardinal fans everywhere. On behalf of the Brewer nation, I wanted you guys to know you are not alone. We share your pain.

Regardless of the talent level and potential, there were two lives lost in that car accident. Both were very young, Taveras who was 21 or 22 and an 18 year old. Both had lots of life left to live and that is what's so unfortunate.

I am a Cardinal fan so I am especially stunned I guess, but my sorrow goes beyond team loyalty. I was enjoying the WS like most of you when Rosenthal came on with the news. Ruined my evening. Turned over to football to try to get it off my mind. Didn't work of course. Then went to my DVR and pulled up his first HR in his first game. He was such a happy guy and was so excited about giving the ball to his mom. 22 years old, girlfriend 18, new tricked out Camaro. Seemed to have the world by the tail, but none of us ever do, do we?

My hobby the last couple of weeks has been creating fake 1964 Topps cards (my first year collecting) with colorization and computer tricks. I was intending to post some here. I immediately thought of the 1964 "In Memoriam" card of Ken Hubbs. Hubbs was a young star in the making for the Cubs and to this day I get sad looking at that card. I sat down and created a similar card for Oscar. I'll post it in a couple of days when I get time.